Looking at global climate solutions from multiple angles

EVANSTON - Highlighting the need for a collaborative, cross-disciplinary approach to solving climate change, Northwestern University’s annual Climate Change Symposium brings together academics, non-profit and think tank leaders, policy makers and business executives for two days of thoughtful dialogue on one of the most pressing issues of our time.

The symposium will take place Nov. 9 and 10 across three locations in Evanston, with symposium-wide programming at the Hilton Orrington Hotel, 1710 Orrington Street in downtown Evanston. Meanwhile, world leaders will be meeting in Bonn, Germany, for the 23rd Conference of Parties to hash out implementation of the Paris Climate Accord.

Despite a scientific consensus about the role humans play in driving climate change, the issue remains polarizing in the U.S. The symposium’s opening panel discussion, “Call to Action: Climate Communications, Cognitive Science, and Identity Politics” addresses that problem head on.

“This is a unique and critical time to address climate change,” said Mike Wasielewski, executive director of ISEN. “This past year, we have seen the White House propose withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, roll back mandates under the Clean Power Plan and drastically lower budgets for the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency.

“In light of this, we have also seen city and state governments, business and universities, including Northwestern, step up to declare their commitment to achieving the Paris goals,” said Wasielewski, Clare Hamilton Hall Professor of Chemistry in Weinberg.

In China, on the other hand, the government is acting unilaterally to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions through the shuttering of coal plants and rapid renewable energy deployment. The first day of the symposium concludes with the closing plenary session, “Climate Activism in China,” with Ma Jun, founding director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs in Beijing.

In 2006, Jun was named China’s “Green Person of the Year” and one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world.

The final day begins at 9 a.m. with back-to-back tracked breakout sessions and concludes at 12:45 p.m. following the closing plenary, “Drawdown: 100 Substantive Solutions to Global Warming,” with Chad Frischmann, vice president and research director at Project Drawdown.

Additional topics of discussion include corporate sustainability and renewable energy procurement, oceans and climate change, city and state climate action, carbon pricing and carbon capture and sequestration, among others.

Programming includes symposium-wide panel discussions and talks, as well as breakout sessions with top thinkers in the science, business and policy realms. Breakout sessions also will take place at Hardin Hall on Northwestern’s campus and The Women’s Club of Evanston, 1702 Chicago Ave.

Kaitlin Raimi, assistant professor of public policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at University of MichiganTopic: "Call to Action: Climate Communications, Cognitive Science, and Identity Politics" (panel discussion)